Category Archives: Elley Arden

~Synopsis~Trish DeVign knows what she needs to be single, successful and satisfied. She needs a baby. With recent relationships falling short of her expectations, she’s single by choice. With a thriving interior design company, she’s got successful covered. It’s the satisfied part that eludes her, and that’s her mother’s fault—not her adopted mother, but the mother who gave her away, sentencing her to a privileged life with two good people who don’t share with her a single drop of DNA.

Tony Corcarelli has spent his adult life as the black sheep of his large Italian-American family ever since he turned his back on running the family carpentry business so he could live a more laidback life, forcing his sister to take the reins. Now, Tony’s grandmother has cancer, and he’s expected to join the family in making her wishes come true. Unfortunately, the two things Nonna wants most for Tony are two things he can’t fathom: a wife and kids or the priesthood. There has to be another way.

When Trish asks her best friend’s brother, Tony, to escort her to a wedding, a night of fun and flirtation turns serious, with Trish confessing she wants a baby. Could a calculated conception be the answer they’ve both been looking for?

I enjoyed this book by Elley. This book includes passion, laughs, heartache, and a sweet love story.

Trish DeVign wants a baby. She is dating to try to get a man that is husband material so she can get married and have a baby. But her dates all turn out to be bad choices. Tony Corcarelli is considered the family bad boy. His family thinks he is a screw up. But Trish thinks he is HOT. Can the bad boy give her what she wants? Will he be okay with what she needs from him.Trish is a planner and a thinker. She spends her time making plans and overthinking everything.Tony is a bad boy. He spends his time on a motorcycle running from the family problems. Can he stay in one place long enough to help out Trish?Very good read. Love all the surrounding characters. Can’t wait to see who shows up in the next book.

Funny part:

He thought about it as he parked his bike and jogged the steps to his flat. Ultimately, he wasn’t worried he’d end up married in Vegas, because after seeing the pain of his mother becoming a widow and Vin’s ugly divorce, marriage lost its luster—not that it had much before. If you could get the goods without the gold, then why bother. And if you could get the kid, too? Bing-to-the-O.

Contact Info for Elley Arden

About Elley

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness.

Excerpt:Tony turned back to the chairs and Trish, who had removed the plastic covering and settled onto the cushion, crossing her long legs and bouncing one barefoot with red painted toes in his direction. As she sat, she rubbed her palms over the arms of the chair and breathed deeply enough that he risked hypnosis by the rise and fall of her breasts. Not the sort of thing he wanted to notice about a woman he couldn’t pursue.

“You really do great work.”

He smiled and stepped closer, because he was a gentleman who’d just been complimented. “Thank you.” He squatted and ran his hand along the nailhead trim, grazing her covered calf muscle, because he was a guy who liked the way her face flushed whenever he stood too close. “I’m glad you like it. When you’re in need of my skills again, you know where to find me.” And then he stood, taking two steps back toward the hall, because even a screw-up like him knew where to draw the line.

She sat ramrod straight, gripping the arms of the chair. “Tony, I need a favor.”

He stopped. “What’s up?”

“I need a…guest for my cousin’s wedding on Saturday. Would you happen to be interested?”

“I take it the good doctor wasn’t so good.”

A nervous chuckle escaped her lips. “Not good at all. And I RSVP’d for two with the hope that he’d still be around, and now my mother is driving me crazy, saying I can’t embarrass myself and her by cancelling this late in the game. I’m stuck.”

It was Tony’s turn to chuckle. “So you want me to unstick you?”

She shrugged, managing cute, coy, and sexy with one pouty-mouthed look. “Would you?”

If he was sane and sensible, no, he wouldn’t. “Absolutely. What time should I pick you up?”

“Thank you,” she breathed on a noisy exhale. “We should leave at three, but I’ll drive.”

“You don’t trust my driving?”

“It’s a wedding, Tony, and I’m wearing a dress. You should wear a suit, like the one you wore to Nonna’s party.” He liked the way she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth when she paused for a breath. “Dress clothes can’t be worn on the back of a motorcycle.”

An image of her creamy leg stretching out from beneath a short skirt and hanging alongside the chrome of his bike made his skin itch. He grinned to cover the not-so-innocent thought. “No bike. Got it. I’ll pick you up at three.” And before she could protest, he turned around and walked away.

He’d never been the kind of guy to let a woman down, and that was a blessing and curse. Now he needed a car worthy of escorting Trish DeVign to a family wedding, in addition to a grand gesture for Nonna’s wish list.

Trish DeVign knows what she needs to be single, successful and satisfied. She needs a baby. With recent relationships falling short of her expectations, she’s single by choice. With a thriving interior design company, she’s got successful covered. It’s the satisfied part that eludes her, and that’s her mother’s fault-not her adopted mother, but the mother who gave her away, sentencing her to a privileged life with two good people who don’t share with her a single drop of DNA. Refusing to grow old bitter, Trish decides a baby will calm the restlessness and lead her to true happiness. Instead, it leads straight to her best friend’s brother.

Tony Corcarelli has spent his adult life as the black sheep of his large Italian-American family. The nickname became permanent when he took a buyout from his sister rather than run the family carpentry company after his father’s death. Now, Tony’s grandmother has cancer, and he’s expected to join the family in making her wishes come true. Unfortunately, the two things Nonna wants most for Tony, are two things he can’t fathom-a wife and kids or the priesthood. There has to be another way.

When Trish asks Tony to escort her to a wedding, a night of fun and flirtation turns serious, with Trish confessing she wants a baby-Tony’s baby. Could a calculated conception be the answer he’s looking for?

Thrown together by a carefully constructed yet cockamamie plan, Trish and Tony struggle to define terms they didn’t expect to become so complicated. But what if neither disapproving family members nor Nonna’s rapidly declining health is their biggest complication? What if it’s love?

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness.

Tony turned back to the chairs and Trish, who had removed the plastic covering and settled onto the cushion, crossing her long legs and bouncing one barefoot with red painted toes in his direction. As she sat, she rubbed her palms over the arms of the chair and breathed deeply enough that he risked hypnosis by the rise and fall of her breasts. Not the sort of thing he wanted to notice about a woman he couldn’t pursue.

“You really do great work.”

He smiled and stepped closer, because he was a gentleman who’d just been complimented. “Thank you.” He squatted and ran his hand along the nailhead trim, grazing her covered calf muscle, because he was a guy who liked the way her face flushed whenever he stood too close. “I’m glad you like it. When you’re in need of my

skills again, you know where to find me.” And then he stood, taking two steps back toward the hall, because even a screw-up like him knew where to draw the line.

She sat ramrod straight, gripping the arms of the chair. “Tony, I need a favor.”

He stopped. “What’s up?”

“I need a…guest for my cousin’s wedding on Saturday. Would you happen to be interested?”

“I take it the good doctor wasn’t so good.”

A nervous chuckle escaped her lips. “Not good at all. And I RSVP’d for two with the hope that he’d still be around, and now my mother is driving me crazy, saying I can’t embarrass myself and her by cancelling this late in the game. I’m stuck.”

It was Tony’s turn to chuckle. “So you want me to unstick you?”

She shrugged, managing cute, coy, and sexy with one pouty-mouthed look. “Would you?”

If he was sane and sensible, no, he wouldn’t. “Absolutely. What time should I pick you up?”

“Thank you,” she breathed on a noisy exhale. “We should leave at three, but I’ll drive.”

“You don’t trust my driving?”

“It’s a wedding, Tony, and I’m wearing a dress. You should wear a suit, like the one you wore to Nonna’s party.” He liked the way she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth when she paused for a breath. “Dress clothes can’t be worn on the back of a motorcycle.”

An image of her creamy leg stretching out from beneath a short skirt and hanging alongside the chrome of his bike made his skin itch. He grinned to cover the not-so-innocent thought. “No bike. Got it. I’ll pick you up at three.” And before she could protest, he turned around and walked away.

He’d never been the kind of guy to let a woman down, and that was a blessing and curse. Now he needed a car worthy of escorting Trish DeVign to a family wedding, in addition to a grand gesture for Nonna’s wish list.

Nothing is going to stop Nel Parker from raising her fledgling real estate agency to the top of the heap. When she returns two dogs to a million-dollar mansion with a dumpster in the driveway, she thinks the house is her lucky break. But the owner turns out to be a moody professional baseball player with a complicated agenda of his own, leaving Nel to fear her plans for real estate domination are doomed.

Centerfielder Grey Kemmons is spending the off-season renovating the house he inherited from his father. It’s a miserable job, but he’s doing it anyway—because somebody has to pay back the money his father stole. When a spitfire of a woman in a surprisingly attractive package shows up wanting to list the house, he agrees to pacify her with a tour, never expecting the mutually beneficial business relationship that ensues.As weeks go by, business turns to pleasure with Nel and Grey believing the temporary nature of their time together will protect their hearts. Too bad nothing can protect them or prepare them for love.

Psychotherapist Maggie Collins has always been a little off the proverbial wall, but now she’s also knee deep in a delayed quarter-life crisis. With her meager paychecks devoured by student loan debt, a car payment and rent for office space, living at home with a flighty, folk-singing mother seemed like a good idea…at first. Now Maggie’s not so sure. She wants space to sort things out and launch a life of her own, but she needs a cushion of cash to get there. When an unexpected phone call brings an offer Maggie can’t refuse, she’s one deal with the devil away from moving out of her mother’s house.The devil of contract negotiations, baseball agent Jordon Kemmons, has a problem the usual experts can’t fix…his star pitcher is too depressed to throw strikes. Even worse, Jordon’s post-divorce grudge against women is turning him into a raging mess. If desperate times call for desperate measures, then cynical Jordon has made the most desperate move of all. He’s hoping sexy psychotherapist Maggie Collins is the answer to all his rusty prayers.Soon Maggie and Jordon are fighting an attraction that threatens everything they’ve ever believed. If it’s not just physical attraction…if it’s something more, maybe two wrongs can make a right.

Elley Arden is a born and bred Pennsylvanian who has lived as far west as Utah and as far north as Wisconsin. She drinks wine like it’s water (a slight exaggeration), prefers a night at the ballpark to a night on the town, and believes almond English toffee is the key to happiness.

Elley has been reading romance novels since she was a sixteen-year-old babysitter, sneaking Judith McNaught and Danielle Steele novels off the bookshelves of the women who employed her. She started her first manuscript when she was twenty-five, writing during babies’ naps. A total of three children and ten years later, the manuscript was complete. Little did she know, her journey to publication was only beginning..

The light above the front door showered her in yellow, sparkling in her hair. Her face was shadowed, but he could see her drawing her bottom lip between her teeth. He should be concerned about her revelation. Instead, he wanted to flick a thumb across that lip and free it from the torture she was inflicting on it. Then, he wanted to turn her face to him and kiss away her worry.

He was officially crazy, wasn’t he?

“My agency is small. What it lacks in size I swear to God I make up for in heart, but sometimes … sometimes that’s not enough. Like when we’re talking a million dollars and the house across the street just got listed by the top agency in the city.” She looked at him, pulling her brows together, pursing her lips, and generally staring at him like he was a great buffoon. “Are you listening to me?”

“Not really,” he said, offering a smile in his defense.

She huffed. “Why not?”

“Because all I can think about is doing this.” He gripped her chin between his thumb and finger and tugged until his mouth met hers.

Her jaw tensed, and for a few long seconds, her lips didn’t move. But then she exhaled, warming him with her breath and relaxing her mouth enough for him to slip inside. She tasted like she smelled. Black coffee with a hint of peppermint; and damned if his body didn’t crave a double shot of caffeine.

He slid his hand to her neck, smoothing the curve of her jaw with his thumb as he deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth, stirring an overwhelming need. He wanted her, had to have her. Right here, right now.

She pressed palms against his chest, scorching his skin. But when she pushed again and her neck muscles clenched, it was like a bucket of cold water, dousing the flames.

He let her go, even though he didn’t want to.

Prepared to apologize, Grey shifted his weight to put more space between them, hoping she wasn’t too angry. Nothing about the kiss felt forced, but never again would he think he knew what a woman was feeling.

She blinked at him, her eyes a liquid blue in the porch light.

“Why’d you do that?” she asked, tracing her fingers over red and swollen lips.

There were lots of answers to choose from. He could play it smooth and self-assured with a ‘because I wanted to.’ He could go with romantic, which for him usually meant something uncomfortable and cheesy, like ‘because I can’t get you out of my head.’ Or he could do what he did best, deflect.

He grinned. “I wanted to help you out.” He hitched a thumb in the direction of the FOR SALE sign across the street.